Rio Fleming and the Impacts of Volleyball

Rio Fleming is a senior at Morro Bay High School and has been playing volleyball for only 2 years. This year she is a captain on her varsity team and the only senior. When Rio was asked about the struggles of being the only senior, she said “Being the only senior can be a lot of pressure to set a good example and just knowing that you’re the oldest on a mostly younger team was a little challenging at first, but the girls and I get along really great!” Rio has built a great bond with her team and her coach, earning a starting spot with her energy and determination. 

This season the team traveled up the coast of California to Santa Cruz and participated in a tournament at Harbour High. “There are so many good memories but definitely the friday night of the Santa Cruz tournament hanging out in the hotel room and bonding.”  Rio’s favorite thing about this 2023 volleyball season was “getting to know all the girls and bond with them at our tournaments and long late night drives.”

As college creeps closer into Rio’s life, she plans to go to college somewhere in California or Colorado to study auto-mechanics and engineering. Since its approaching Rio is having to deal with the challenges of managing sports and homework. The advice she gave was to not procrastinate and it helped a lot when she took advantage of the long bus rides to finish writing college essays and other work. 

Rio’s mom has been a very influential person in her life. “My mom always told me everything works out for a reason, and it's true. This helped me a ton just not to worry when things were stressing me out cause I knew something else was gonna work out.” 

Playing volleyball and soccer has caused Rio to be a hardworking student and athlete, and players from the team stated that this year wouldn't have been the same without Rio and that she is #1 in our hearts.